State briefs: 2 Houston women shot, injured after reporting car thief

Published 12:43 pm, Sunday, September 25, 2016

HOUSTON — Houston police say they are looking for a man who shot and injured two women who caught him trying to break into a truck.

Investigators say the women were leaving a sports bar around 1:15 a.m. Sunday when they spotted the man trying to get into the vehicle.

As the women called 911, the man noticed them and starting firing. The women fled the scene in their vehicle but one was hit in the hand while the other was shot in the leg.

The women were later taken to a local hospital, where authorities say they are in stable condition.

Teen faces life in prison in killing of parents

McKINNEY— A jury is set to decide whether it will sentence a North Texas teenager to life in prison for the fatal shootings of his parents.

The Dallas Morning News reports that testimony in the punishment phase of the trial of 18-year-old Zachary Elliot Callens is set to resume on Monday.

The jury on Friday convicted Callens of murder in the 2014 deaths of his parents — 48-year-old Ryan Callens and his 49-year-old wife Maria.

Prosecutors say a then 16-year-old Zachary Callens killed his parents because he was angry that they punished him for not doing his schoolwork.

During the trial, defense lawyer David Kleckner tried to raise doubts about the police investigation and suggested that one of Zachary Callens’ siblings or his father was responsible.

Murder-suicide suspected in deaths of councilman, wife

KERRVILLE — Police are investigating the shooting deaths of a Central Texas councilman and his wife, whose killings are suspected of being a murder-suicide.

Authorities say Kerrville Councilman Gary Stork and his wife Peggy were found dead Saturday evening inside their home. Each had gunshot wounds to their heads.

Police say they are investigating the deaths as a possible murder-suicide.

In a news release, Kerrville police said Stork was a suspect in an indecency with a child case over a July 4, 2016, incident and that the case was to be presented to a grand jury on Tuesday.

Autopsies are pending for both victims

Stork had been re-elected to his second term on the city council in May.

Kerrville is located about 65 miles northwest of San Antonio.

Mayor embarks on trade mission to Cuba

HOUSTON — Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and other local business and community leaders are heading to Cuba for a three-day trade mission.

Turner and a 30-member delegation left on Sunday for their relationship-building trip, which comes after Cuba and the U.S. last year restored diplomatic relations, which had previously been severed for more than 50 years.

The trade delegation plans on meeting with the Cuban Ministers of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Energy and Mines, Tourism and Public Health.Texas has traded some goods allowed under the U.S. embargo with Cuba for years but officials see the potential for more.Last year, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott visited Cuba as part of an effort to create more trade opportunities between the state and the Latin American country.3 children killed in mobile home fire EL PASO — Authorities continue investigating the cause of a deadly West Texas mobile home fire that killed three children and injured two other individuals.Police in El Paso say the fire started Friday night at a mobile home with five people inside.Emergency responders found a 3-year-old boy and a 69-year-old man at the scene and transported them to a local hospital, where they were treated for non-life threatening injuries.Police say firefighters later found the bodies of three children — all under 10 years of age — inside the mobile home.The names of the victims have not been released by authorities.Neighbors say the family had only been living in the mobile home for a few months.Bodies of 2 fishermen found after canoe capsizes DALLAS — Authorities have recovered the bodies of two North Texas fishermen after their canoe capsized.Officials say the bodies were found early Sunday morning after the fishermen’s boat started leaking and then flipped over a day earlier as they were on Cedar Creek Lake, located about 60 miles southeast of Dallas.Texas Game Wardens identified the two victims as 19-year-old Anthony Aleman and 25-year-old Onesimo Cabriales, both from Dallas.Investigators say three men were in the canoe when it capsized.One of the men swam back to shore but the other two didn’t make it.Rescue crews searched the lake on Saturday but called off the search in the evening due to high winds and rain.Authorities say the men weren’t wearing life vests.